AMAPETYU

marbles

AMAXHOSA

Xhosa people (“ama” is a prefix that indicates plurality)

BRAAI

A structure on which a fire can be made for the outdoor grilling of meat

CAMERA OBSCURA

A darkened box with a convex lens or aperture for projecting the image of an external object on to a screen inside, a forerunner of the modern camera. It is housed in a small round building with a rotating angled mirror at the apex of the roof, projecting an image of the landscape on to a horizontal surface inside. The pinhole image is a natural optical phenomenon that occurs when an image of a scene at the other side of a screen (or for instance a wall) is projected through a small hole in that screen as a reversed and inverted image (left to right and upside down) on a surface opposite to the opening. The surroundings of the projected image have to be relatively dark for the image to be clear, so many historical camera obscura experiments were performed in dark rooms. Taken to Grahamstown in the year 1882, its original function was to quickly locate the town doctor

CRAFT BEER

A beer made in a traditional or non-mechanised way by a small brewery

DAB

Style of Hip Hop dance similar to a person’s polite attempt to muffle a sneeze. Originated from the marijuana culture, made famous by American Hip Hop artist Bow Wow. According to him the original meaning of dab is an incredibly strong way to smoke marijuana when you cough, you cough into the corner of your elbow, extending the other arm outwards

ELWANDLE

(at or to) the sea or beach

EXABENI-STILE

An enclosure usually made of dry branches, woods, or bricks used for cooking by women, especially used during traditional ceremonies. Its counterpart is the kraal, which is where men sit during a traditional ceremony

FAVELAS

name for the slums in Brazil

HOMELAND

any of ten partially self-governing areas in South Africa designated for particular indigenous African peoples under the former policy of apartheid

ISIXHOSA

The Bantu language of the Xhosa, one of the official language of South Africa

ITAP

tap/faucet, referring in this instance to tap water

JIKA

turn around

KHAKIS

Clothing made of a strong wool or cotton fabric of dull brownish-yellow colour. It was used by British soldiers and came to be associated with the military in general

KHOIKHOI

a group of Khoisan people native to southwestern Africa. Unlike the neighbouring hunter-gatherer San people, the Khoikhoi traditionally practiced nomadic pastoral agriculture

KOP

A hill or peak

MAKOTI

a term for a married woman at her in-law’s house

PASS LAWS

In South Africa, pass laws were a form of internal passport system designed to segregate the population, manage urbanisation, and allocate migrant labour

PUBLIC & MODEL C SCHOOLS

A school that is supported by public and private funding

RONDAVEL

a traditional circular African dwelling with a conical thatched roof

SHWESHWE

traditional attire of a makoti, especially at early marriage stages

SKHOJI

hopscotch (alternative spelling: skhotshi)

SUNNIES

Sunglasses

TANNIE

A woman who is older than the speaker (often used as a respectful and affectionate title or form of address)

TAXI

passenger vehicle, often a 15-seater

VETKOEK/AMAGWINYA

A small, unsweetened cake of deep-fried dough

TSHISHA NYAMA

is a local braai enterprise which is an integral part of South Africa’s “Township Economy”. This local enterprise can be distinguished as a communal space where people converge to enjoy braaied meat

RAIN QUEEN

Queen Modjadji and the beliefs of the people about her abilities to bring rain. Queen Modjadji is a direct descendant of the once-powerful royal house of Monomotapa, which ruled over the Karanga people in Zimbabwe in the 15th and 16th centuries. Rider Haggard’s classic novels, King Solomon’s Mines and She, drew the world’s attention to the legendary Rain Queen of the Balobedu Peoples. When she is nearing death, she appoints her eldest daughter as her successor and then she ingests poison

AMAKHWENKWE

a Xhosa term for boys. Its uniquely used to distinguish boys from men

UMSEBENZI

this word can have three meanings in the Xhosa language which can be semantically distinguished in the context with which one uses it. a. Umsebenzi could be directly translated as work b. Umsebenzi could also be used to describe a person who works, thus a “worker” c. Umsebenzi could, in traditional terms be used as a ‘euphemistic’ and ‘respectful’ term to describe a ceremony taking place, such as a funeral or ritual

KHOISANS

a term coined in 1928 by Leonard Schultze as a collective category for early hunter-gathering and herding peoples of southern Africa, and a term which increasingly causes a degree of tension and controversy. Traditionally, the Khoikhoi were largely pastoralists, whilst the San lived primarily off hunter-gathering, and hence the differences in their livelihoods, culture, languages and identity make for some significant distinctions between Khoi and San peoples, despite their having some common ancestry and cultural commonalities.

AMAMFENGU

The name means ‘wanderers’ and the Fingo nation – amongst them the​ Bhaca, Bhele, Hlubi and Zizi peoples – was formed from the tribes that were broken up and dispersed by Shaka and his Zulu armies in the Mfecane wars in the early 19th century. Most of them fled westwards and settled amongst the Xhosa. After some years of oppression by the Gcaleka Xhosa (who called the Fengu their “dogs”), they formed an alliance with the Cape government in 1835 and were invited by Sir Benjamin d’Urban to settle on the banks of the Great Fish River in the region that later became known as the Ciskei. The amaMfengu, who were known across southern Africa as skilled gunmen, were invaluable allies of the Cape Colony in its frontier wars.